Update: The flight, which was left grounded at Shannon overnight, continued its journey this afternoon. The flight had been scheduled to depart at 1.30pm but was further delayed. The aircraft had been pushed back from the terminal in preparation for departure but had to return to its parking stand again.
After the aircraft had been refuelled and a new flight plan was issued, flight UA-3030 finally left Shannon for Chicago at 4.10pm.
A transatlantic jet diverted to Shannon Airport this afternoon after the crew reported that a laptop had become lodged in an ‘inaccessible location’ posing a potential safety risk to the flight.
At the time, United Airlines flight UA-12 was travelling from Zurich in Switzerland to Chicago in the United States. The Boeing 767-322(ER) jet was about 800 kilometres northwest of Mayo when the crew turned around. There were 157 passengers and 10 crew on board.
It’s understood that cabin crew staff were advised of the issue but were unable to retrieve the laptop so the flight crew contacted air traffic controllers in Shannon to request clearance to divert and have the device safely retrieved.
The flight made a U-turn and rerouted to Shannon where the airport’s Fire and Rescue Service was placed on standby after the crew also confirmed they would be making an overweight landing.
The flight landed at 1.42pm and was followed down the runway by airport fire crews who remained with the aircraft until it reached the terminal building. An inspection of the jet’s undercarriage was carried out to ensure the braking system hadn’t overheated during the overweight landing. Fire crews remained with the aircraft for about 30 minutes before being stood down.
At the terminal, ground handling crews and aircraft engineers were also standing by for the jet. Engineers boarded the aircraft and to see if they could retrieve the battery. When this wasn’t possible from inside the cabin, ground handling staff had to remove cargo from a forward hold in effort to locate the battery from beneath the passenger cabin.
The flight had been expected to resume its journey at 2.39pm but was later cancelled as the crew would have exceeded work hour limits if they had continued. Passengers were deboarded and directed to the transit lounge while arrangements were made to transport them to hotels for the night.
A spokesperson for the airline confirmed: “United flight 12 scheduled from Zurich to Chicago landed safely in Shannon to address a potential safety risk caused by a laptop being stuck in an inaccessible location. We’re working quickly to get customers to their final destination.”
The laptop was later safely retrieved after engineers had to remove panelling to reach it.
Lithium batteries that power the laptops, mobile phones and other electronic devices, can overheat and burst into flames if they are damaged. It’s for this reason passengers and not allowed carry computers, e-cigarettes or other electronic devices in their checked bag.
In 2018, a mobile phone that had been dropped between seats on a Qantas flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles, caught fire halfway into its journey. The cabin crew managed to extinguish the fire and the flight was able to continue its journey.
Data from the Federal Aviation Administration in the US shows at least 68 verified incidents between March 3, 2006, and February 15, 2024 in which lithium batteries in cell (mobile) phones emitted smoke, caught on fire or became extremely hot while on a plane. 14 of these incidents along occurred in 2023.